Assistant
by TotallyDecent
Summary: Nitori has lived his entire life in a lonely, secluded village and longs to experience all that the world has to offer. But this seems to be nothing more than a dream. That is, until one day a red-haired stranger enters the town, and Nitori's life suddenly takes a strange and exciting turn.


**A/N: Hey, thanks for checking this story out. It's the first chapter of a fantasy AU Free! fic I've been working on in my spare time. It's T rated for now, but will most likely go into major M territory in later chapters, just so you guys know. I've also decided to drop the honorifics, seing as the story takes place in a fictional fantasy world and not Japan.**

* * *

_Every town has its stories. Stories for children, for adults, for the elderly, no matter what township or settlement you find yourself in, the stories will be there, being passed down from generation to generation, from grandmothers to mothers, from mothers to daughters, and so on._

_And although the stories may differ and vary from place to place, their themes and morals will hardly diverge. There will always be stories to inspire heroics and bravery, heroes slaying dragons and beasts to be rewarded with fame and fortune. There will always be stories of undying adoration, maidens and menfolk prevailing over hardship and torment in the name of love. And most certain of all, there will always be stories meant to frighten, to teach children of the horrors of the world, to stay clear of shadows and that which is unknown, for that is where evil sleeps. 'Tis true, wherever you may run or hide, stories are inescapable._

_of the stories meant to strike fear and teach wariness to those who here it, but it is the only one But there is one story, one lone story, which is told without variation or disparity in every village, town and city on every continent mankind knows of. 'Tis the only story known by every man, woman and child in every corner of the world. _

_The story is known of as Rin, and depicts a man who has no home, who can bend the will of the elements and trick eyes with his illusions. It is said he travels from town to town, searching for a young individual worthy of accompanying him. Once he's found a subject of fixation proceeds to lure them to him with magic and promises of wealth and luxury, before kidnapping them, never to be seen again by their beloveds. _

_But even stranger are the accounts of those who have sighted the man, but were deemed undeserving of his attention, for they cannot remember anything about him. Not his voice, not his face, almost as if it had never been there to begin with. All they could use to describe him was a single word: Red. _

_Nitori, a young boy who had lived all his life within the confines of the remote village of Lavellia, was not an exception to the rule; he too had heard the story of Rin as a child. At one point he had even feared it greatly, the thought that the very next day he could be taken away from everything he knew and loved by some outlandish sorcerer had kept him wide awake long into his nights. But as time went by and Nitori grew older, he eventually stopped dwelling the story of the wicked man, as other things began to occupy his maturing mind. But he did not forget completely, and even as he reached his seventeenth birthday, the story still lingered somewhere deep in his memory, until it one day would be awoken. _

_The story you are about to read is not the story of Rin, but it is far from unrelated to the daunting old tale. Our main character in this particular story is the aforementioned Nitori, and therefore it predictably begins in his place of birth, but that is far from where it will end._

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A cold September wind blew through the streets of Lavellia, causing the citizens of the small village to shiver and hide in their coats as they shuffled down the narrow cobblestone streets. Nitori was not among them. He was staring out at them through the window of the town's only bakery, gossiping with his co-worker and friend since childhood, Nagisa, about the same subject as everyone else in Lavellia, as they distractedly kneaded the dough.

"They'll be here any minute now!" Nagisa mused excitedly, "I've waited so long for this day!"

Nitori felt the same way as his friend, although his anticipation was a tad more subtle than the blonde's. A circus would be arriving in Avellia today, and although Nitori, along with most of the villagers, only had a faint idea of what exactly a circus was, he was still overjoyed that for something was happening in this uneventful village.

He was about to voice his agreement to Nagisa when a butch female voice roared from the back room, "Pipe down boys, I ain't payin' ya to stand and blabber!"

_You're barely paying us at all_, Nitori thought as he sighed. He hated working for Mrs Wenra, just as he hated Lavelllia and everyone in the boring village, except for his mother and Nagisa, of course. He was tired of seeing the same faces every day and having everyone know his name. He dreamed of one day being able to leave this dreary place, but being nothing but a lowly peasant, a dream was all that was. Every night as he lay in bed he wished that tomorrow would be the day when something exciting finally happened; perhaps he would meet someone new, maybe even fall in love.

But his wishes always remained unanswered, until now, that was. The circus was without question the talk of the town, and though many of the older residents were sceptical and opposed to the whole ordeal, since no such thing as a circus had ever been seen in Lavellia before, Nitori and Nagisa could barely contain their excitement.

Nitori's train of thought was interrupted by a high-pitched squeal from his fellow apprentice baker, "They're here! Oh, they're finally here!" Nitori looked out to see that the circus had indeed arrived and was parading down the street as people stopped in their daily routines and stared at them with wide, amazed eyes.

Nitori could not believe what he was seeing. There were animals the likes of which he had never seen before, great cat-like beasts with long golden manes flowing down their backs and grey animals the size of houses. The music being played by the marching band was like none he'd ever heard and he saw men breathing fire and women whose limbs bent in ways he'd never thought were possible.

Last in the parade was a pitch black carriage with dazzling golden lines that emblazed it sides, a beautiful white horse gracefully pulling it. And in the front of the carriage stood a lone man, a long dark cape flapping dramatically behind him, as did the crimson hair that reached down to his neck. He had left the four topmost buttons on his snow-white shirt open and was firmly resting both hands on an oak cane in front of him.

Nitori could not explain it, but somehow the strange man was more fascinating to him than the rest of the parade combined. The man turned his head, and Nitori was shocked when the bright red eyes made his own. His heart stopped in his chest and he found himself unable to breath. Suddenly there was nothing around Nitori but darkness, and he was alone with the caped man, whose eyes bore into deepest part of Nitori's soul, awakening something dark and feral which had slumbered there. The short moment lasted for what felt like hours, until the man ended it with a smirk, but Nitori was too overwhelmed too notice the subtle change in his expression.

When he came back to Nagisa was waving his palm in front of his eyes, "Hellooo? Nitori, are you there?" The man was gone, and with him the strange yet enticing feeling had followed.

Nitori wiped his forehead. He was sweating. "Sorry. I just got… caught up in all the excitement."

Nagisa grinned, "It was that incredible, huh? Can't say I disagree, I've never seen anything like it!"

Even Mrs Wenra, whose face was normally twisted in a permanent frown, was standing by the window, her jaw on the floor. But it didn't take long for her to return to her usual insufferable state. "That's enough of that, you two. Get back to work!"

They obliged, and their workday continued to pass by at an excruciatingly slow rate, as if they had not just witnessed the most incredible sight of their lives.

* * *

When Nitori went to bed that night he was still trying to make sense of what he had seen. Some of the acts that had been performed in the parade had defied what he thought were the basic limitations to what the human body could do. But for some reason, the one person that never left his thoughts was the caped man in the black carriage. As far as Nitori could tell there had been nothing overly odd about him, he was just a man, although his clothes were nothing like anything Nitori had ever seen anyone in Lavellia wear. _Far more beautiful too_, Nitori thought.

He could not explain why this was. He had seen creatures straight out of fairy tales and heard marvellous music played by the largest band he'd ever seen. Surely those would be the images that stayed with him late into the night. But they were not, and the lone figure behind the white horse kept returning to his mind and stayed with him in his dreams until he woke the next morning, still unable to think of anything but that strange red-haired man.


End file.
